UK Experts Warn from Increased Popularity of e-Cigarettes among Teens

Promotion of e-cigarettes at a “vape fair” in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AFP
Promotion of e-cigarettes at a “vape fair” in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AFP
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UK Experts Warn from Increased Popularity of e-Cigarettes among Teens

Promotion of e-cigarettes at a “vape fair” in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AFP
Promotion of e-cigarettes at a “vape fair” in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: AFP

UK health experts fear sharp rise in popularity of e-cigarettes among teenagers, as seen in the US Health campaigners have expressed alarm after it emerged that a loophole in the law means it is legal for marketing companies to hand out vapes to children for free, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

British American Tobacco (BAT) is investigating after a 17-year-old was offered a free sample of the company's Vype brand. The minor was not told that the product contained nicotine and was not asked for proof of age.

Vape companies regularly distribute free samples to adults using paid, third-party promotional companies operating in city centers and at festivals and transport hubs. The promotional teams are young, personable and sport the livery of the vape brand they represent. Some use additional free offers such as soft drinks to engage with passersby.

Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) said teams working for Vype had been recently promoting the brand in Brighton, Bristol and Bath, where a 17-year-old girl working on a market stall was approached and offered a free sample, in return for her email address and with no attempt to establish her age.

When it was alerted to claims that minors were being offered free vapes, Ash approached National Trading Standards and was shocked to learn that a loophole in the law means it is not illegal to hand out free e-cigarettes to children.

Ash said that the wording of the relevant sections of the Tobacco and Related Products regulations pertaining to e-cigarettes was too vague when it came to prohibiting the distribution of free products to minors.

Pushing e-cigarettes on young people is a concern for health experts, who fear that the UK will go the way of the US, where vaping's popularity among teenagers has reached epidemic proportions.



Hundreds of Firefighters Battling Wildfire in Southern France

An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
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Hundreds of Firefighters Battling Wildfire in Southern France

An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)
An Airbus H125 helicopter drops water over a wildfire in Saint-Julien Les Martigues, northwest of Marseille in southern France on July 18, 2025. (Photo by Christophe SIMON / AFP)

Nearly 1,000 firefighters and helicopters battled a wildfire about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of France's second-largest city Marseille on Friday, but officials said lower temperatures and increased humidity had improved the situation.

The 240-hectare (593 acres) wildfire flared up a week after a separate conflagration reached the northwestern outskirts of Marseille, forcing people to evacuate or into lockdown and temporarily shuttering the area's airport.

Pierre Bepoix, the colonel of rescue operations and deputy director for the area's firefighters, said 150 people had been evacuated, but firefighters had managed to save 150 homes and portions of the area's forests.

"It was a fire that swept through relatively dense vegetation ... which made our work particularly complicated," Bepoix told Reuters. "Obviously, priority was given to the preservation and protection of these homes and the lives that could be in these buildings."

Local officials said in a statement that 120 homes had been threatened by the fire, adding that it was not possible yet to identify any possible damage to them, and that two firefighters had been injured.

Meanwhile in Spain, a wildfire that broke out on Thursday evening in the central Toledo province and could be seen from downtown Madrid, ravaged 3,200 hectares of woodland.

Regional emergency services said early on Friday firefighters had secured the perimeter, though there were concerns over strong winds and high temperatures forecast throughout the day.